Brisbane AFL final bid gets a boost

QUEENSLAND’S hopes of hosting the AFL grand final received a major boost from the other side of the country.

News the match would be restricted to a half-capacity crowd if played at Perth Stadium under Western Australia’s COVID-19 restrictions has put another egg in the Gabba’s basket.

WA Premier Mark Mcgowan on Tuesday extended the state’s Phase 4 restrictions until October 24, meaning 30,000 people at most are permitted at Perth Stadium for any event.

Depending on whether the league opts to implement a prefinals bye for competing teams, the grand final could fall on October 17 or 24, with a determination on both a planned date and location expected by the end of the month.

But Mcgowan — who said he had no knowledge of reports that the state had offered the AFL $35m to host the match — was adamant he would not budge on the measure and that the premiership decider was “not our main priority”.

“I don’t know what date the grand final is scheduled for, I’m not sure they know exactly what date it is,” he said.

“But clearly our advice is to keep Phase 4 in place for two months. And that means up until that date, we expect that we will have the current restrictions at Optus Stadium.”

He said that if the league was to opt to stage the decider in Perth it would “have to abide” by the crowd cap.

The Gabba is understood to be the frontrunner to host the game, with the Brisbane stadium likely to be restricted to fewer than 20,000 people.